Sanitation workers union leader Harry Nespoli says every union is being told to work harder without more money. (Chelsea Stahl/New York Daily News)

"It's not a job where you have to find somebody with a very technical skill and pay them a lot of money," she said.

Gregory Floyd, head of Teamsters Local 237, which represents 20,000 city workers, was angry about the raises.

"I thought there was no money for raises for any city employee, and the last I checked the people who worked in the mayor's office were city employees," he said. "They're being paid with taxpayer money."

Harry Nespoli, who heads the sanitation workers union, said every union is working without a contract and being told to inform its members to work harder without any rises.

"He had enough money to give raises to the people in City Hall, but not the people that work for the citizens of New York City on a day-to-day basis?" he questioned. "That is totally unacceptable."

LaVorgna shot back that 76,000 union members received salary increases from June 2011 to June 2012. There are 240,000 unionized employees in the city workforce.